Project Environment Interface Concepts

The PMO's efforts to manage a professional project management career path will provide the human element of attention needed by professionals in the project management environment. The PMO becomes a resource for advice and guidance in helping individuals, particularly project managers, to develop personal strategies and plans that are used to advance their professional status and stature within the relevant organization.

The PMO's participation in preparing career progression guidance, if not a leading effort, at least ensures that the interests of individuals in the project management environment are adequately represented. It will bring to the forefront and manage the current and preferred skill-set requirements for project managers and project team members at various career levels. It does this per its ongoing awareness and involvement in project management industry news and events, its associated implementation of project management performance standards, and its integration of relevant organization business needs and interests.

The identification of career levels within the project management environment presumably delineates individual skill, knowledge, and experience. This delineation across progressive levels of professional advancement also contributes to a new ability to easily identify individuals who are qualified to participate or manage different types of projects, per project classifications assigned. This may not be an imminent need for the smaller PMO, where everyone knows who "can" and who "should not" be assigned to one of the few project efforts. Conversely, in any larger organization, where project team members and project managers are not as well known personally or where they are separated by resource managers, an objective indication of professional capability is essential to successful resource performance within the project management environment. A project management career path provides credentials that confirm the appropriateness of individual assignments to projects.

As well, the PMO can develop and implement the preferred standards of performance for each progressive level of career advancement. This includes specification of any internal or external professional or technical certification required for advancement.